Though Wednesday’s weather in Dickinson dropped almost 50 degrees with gray and damp conditions, meteorologists at the Bismarck National Weather Service are predicting a warm week ahead as October closes in.
On Tuesday, Sept. 28, Dickinson saw its hottest temperature recorded on that day, peaking at 100 degrees. Though it is not the hottest temperature on record for the month of September, meteorologist Jason Anglin noted that it was the warmest for that day.
The last temperature to reach more than 100 degrees in Dickinson was recorded on Sept. 15, 1948.
“... It is a bit unusual. It’s not unusual to get 90s, but to hit 100 is quite rare,” Anglin noted to The Press Wednesday. “This warmth is just the pattern we’re in right now, and kind of a pattern we’ve been in all summer where we’ve just had a very high ridging pattern over us. As that kind of moved eastward yesterday, we got that very warm southerly wind and… all of the conditions lined up pretty good. It gave us a pretty warm temperature — a record warm.”
For the coming weekend, Anglin said that there will be “seasonal temperatures” with an average high of 74 degrees for Dickinson, which will carry through into next week.
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With a returning ridging pattern by Wednesday, Oct. 6, Anglin noted that there may be potentially more record temperatures. The average high temperature for early October in Dickinson is 65 degrees. By the end of October, average temperatures drop to approximately 48 degrees, he added.
“So to see temperatures return back into the 80s, that would be 20 degrees above normal to start the month,” Anglin said.
Previous record highs for the beginning of October include 94 degrees on Oct. 1 and 84 degrees on Oct. 7. So warmer temperatures are not completely rare for the first week in October, Anglin added.
Anglin encourages residents in Dickinson and southwestern North Dakota to be mindful of heat safety and monitor all local burn bans as fire concerns remain eminent.
For a complete forecast, visit thedickinsonpress.com/news/weather .
